


darkest before dawn

by spideywhiteys



Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [25]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Demon Slayer AU, Drabble, Gen, Insomnia, Paranoia, alternating pov, blood mention, but it's not in detail, distantly but it still counts, hashirama is mentioned by his full name but it's obvious it's him, mei is related to the uzumaki, you don't really need to know anything about it tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28989702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideywhiteys/pseuds/spideywhiteys
Summary: Uzumaki Mito is one of the strongest Demon Slayers of her generation. She is strong because she has to be, strong because she doesn't know how to be anything else. Yet there are still times in which she cannot sleep, and the reasons are unknown to all but her.
Relationships: Uzumaki Mito & Terumi Mei
Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086938
Kudos: 6





	darkest before dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Day 25: Demon Slayer AU / Mito + Mei

The night is silent. There are no insects, no rustle of the wind through the trees. The moon shines high and bright in a cloudless sky, pinpricks of light splattered across an indigo canvas. She rests against the trunk of a tree, hidden among the leaves and unable to sleep. Everytime she closes her eyes, an imaginary sound is conjured in her ears. 

At her hip, her sword. Blue like the whirling pools that surround the shores of her home. A home known for those with carmine hair; hair she ties up into two buns, the symbol of her family inked into the ties. Mito exhales into silence, the still air warm with the remnants of a summer day. She thumbs the hilt, tempted. 

“You should be asleep.” Comes a voice. A familiar voice, belonging to her current partner. A woman with wild sanguine hair, from some off-shoot of Mito’s main family. She is beautiful and deadly, as quick to heat as her Magma Style suggests. 

“I feel as if something is amiss.” 

From the opposing tree, Mei’s verdant gaze pierces through the dark. Inhale, exhale. Breaths carefully managed. Carefully contained. Always ready. Her hand rests on her own hilt, a sword with a blade the most brilliant shade of crimson. Beautiful. Unusual for anyone in relation to the Uzumaki, but beautiful all the same.

“There was no word of demons in the area.” 

Mito knows this. It’s old paranoia from a job that’s much too violent. She was born and raised into a family that made a habit of killing the things that go bump in the night. A thousand years worth of war, worth of blood spilling across the ground to feed a hungry earth and hungry mouths filled with greedy teeth.

“You’re too tense.” Mei smiles, still too kind. She’s been through her own trial of blood, so Mito knows her kindness is not a weakness. The open-mindedness is certainly annoying at times, because Mei is too willing to believe that demons can be saved. Mito begs to differ.

Again, too kind. Thought the desire for peace is admirable.

She ignores the other’s words. “You sleep instead. I’ll take this watch.”

“Are you sure? We’ve been running all day…”

“Yes,” Mito affirms. “Otherwise it’ll just be both us awake when one should be sleeping.”

Mei hums, the soft sound carrying over the slight distance between them. She tilts her head back against the tree, waves and waves of auburn hair spilling across her shoulders. Bright green eyes close slowly, fatigue obvious in the dark circles below. Maybe she won’t sleep, or maybe she will, but Mito has given her the option and it’s almost impossible to argue with the Uzumaki Clan Head. 

The redhead is a powerful woman, not just in her physical prowess, but in her ability to turn the tides with just her presence. Just her words. She can go head to head with the other leaders, even when they are men who turn their noses up at the idea of a woman being in the same standing as them. Old thoughts. Traditional thoughts. They will one day fade, and Mei can see Mito being the spearhead for that change. 

Mei wants to get married right away. She wants to love and be loved and have a family of her own, but she also wants them to be safe. And that means she needs to trust that Muzan will be killed and demons can be cured. 

Mito is not like her, she knows that. Mito does not look for love, she looks to pave roads into the universe with every sweep of her blade. Her hair is the shade of the very blood and gore she cuts from the bodies of demons. A wrecking ball in a pretty kimono, her delicate features completely deceiving. She could turn a man inside out with her words alone.

In fact, she’s done so to that poor Senju man. Watching him trail after her like a kicked puppy is one of the biggest sources of Mei’s amusement when they’re stuck at the Wisteria Compound. 

She wonders what Mito feels for the man. It’s so hard to tell sometimes. The Uzumaki is an iron wall, she has to be — as both a female leader and a demon slayer. Mei looks up to her. Wants to  _ be _ like her.

She also wants Mito to be happy.

“Do you ever think about saying yes to that Senju?”

“Go to  _ sleep, _ Mei.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow / Support me on [Tumblr](https://spideyfoof.tumblr.com/) and let me know if you'd like to see more of this AU!


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